Lowering food costs

[clh72481]

Hi everyone! Me again.

tldr: how do you keep food costs down? How do you save money for holidays, too?

I searched at past posts and got some ideas, but didn't see this question addressed so thank you for any additional tips you have!

We've been going over our budget and talking about how we can make it work to comfortably have another baby. I'll feel good about it if we can figure out how to live on just my income in the event that my spouse stops working, at least for a period. We're good about budgeting when we have a goal in mind and are generally frugal (older cars, smaller house, no credit card debt), but we honestly have gotten so lax in 2020.

We have spent entirely too much on comfort food and small purchases on Amazon to fight boredom. Saving on traveling, gas, and eating out, but yeeeaaah. I looked at our transactions and was happy to see we're spending hardly anything on Amazon or entertainment. There is one major issue however: our food costs! YIKES!! We clocked $1600 last month just on food. That's for two adults, a kindergartener, and a small toddler. And two kitties.

How you might ask?? We are easily spending $200 on the family grocery bill every weekend, but then we also regularly stop into the grocery store mid-week and spend $50 or so, we had one $50 splurge for takeout on my birthday, and my husband has been relieving stress by buying fast food and energy drinks /snacks from the gas station, apparently. He spent over $200 last month on junk (I'm not perfect, I spent $20)—seriously, fast food and gas station purchases. And I see that the boys have been getting Tim Horton's on Saturday mornings while I run, among other very healthy choices, too, such as Wendy's. haha

So we just had a lighthearted but still honest conversation about how we could have another baby if we can meal plan and get him to stop eating like a fifteen-year-old stoner. lol

My husband apologized for being so lax, which I'm not really mad about but it does feel like throwing money down the drain. But the first step to making this work is identifying where we need to improve, and now we know!

What I would love are any of your suggestions on how you meal plan, shop, cook, etc., for a big family on one income. Also, I am thinking about the upcoming holidays and how we can save some dough for my son's birthday and Christmas. I mean, we won't be throwing any parties or hosting family, so there will be savings, but other tips are welcome.

Here are the top tasks on my list:

1. Always shop Aldi first. I love Aldi (US discount grocery store in case you don't have them) and I know we save a lot by going there, but we don't seem to have time to stop at two stores. We can, though. Just gotta make time! Also, remembering to get TP and paper towel when it is in stock as well as buying Aldi diapers is a big savings over the store brand at our local supermarket.
2. Cook treats at home. We are guilty of buying a four-pack of muffins on the weekend or some cookies as a nightly treat for the boys if they're good, but I can make those things for SO much cheaper and in much larger quantities, plus the boys can help so it can be an activity.
3. Meal plan. We're not great about this. We usually just end up doing all the usual stuff: burgers or brats or chicken on the grill, tacos, pasta dishes, etc. I meal prep salads usually during the week, but doing things like making a pot of hardboiled eggs would be great for little snacks or egg salad and eggs are SO cheap and healthy. But we also would love some healthy casserole recipes, so I'm on the look-out.
4. Drink water. Just drink water. We don't need every drink to be sparkling water with fancy flavors. Just have to get in touch with my inner r/HydroHomies.
5. Bring meals to work. My husband is only at work for four hours a day, but he doesn't bring any food so he gets hungry mid-shift and buys a meal. He said he will come up with ideas for what to bring, even if it is just PBJ. I'm happy to help keep items stocked and even help portion them since he leaves crazy early in the morning. I work from home, so no worries on my end.
6. Buy a chest freezer. Since we're aiming to get our food costs down to $200/week, I decided to get a chest freezer for $200, which I just ordered and can go pick up. We're good about getting steam-in-bag frozen veggies that the kids like and we use for meals, but we run out of space in our freezer every week. If I could stock up on meat when it's cheap or other staples, that would help. And I designated a cabinet in the basement for extra pantry space because I am starting to run out of room to keep extra items upstairs. Bulk is the name of the game!

I'm subscribed to r/frugal and r/EatCheapAndHealthy, so I will head over there too to search for their best ideas. We are determined to make this work because seriously, this is a solvable problem. Thank you again for reading!

 

[cleonardjr]

@clh72481 I think you a utterly delusional to think you can cut your food cost from $1600 a month to $200 a month. My hubby and I budget shopping for us and 3 cats couldn't hit $200 a month without eating rice and beans for every single meal. I think you need to be realistic and plan for no less than $600 a month.

 

[clh72481]

@cleonardjr lol! I said $200/mo and I meant $200/week. Yeah there's no way we could survive on $50/week without eating, um, sand???

 

[mormeguil]

@clh72481 We’re lucky that we live in the middle of nowhere so we buy half a cow from a local butcher! SO much cheaper and also the meat is the absolute best!

 

[katrina2017]

@clh72481 I work full time, hubs works full time and we have 5 kids. I just came here for the comments. Recently we’ve been on the same struggle bus though.
Also drives me broke. Their special buy section gets me every time!
Online order then pick up has been the life saver for me. That is the only thing that has ever kept me in check!

 

[larsonmcl]

@clh72481 I haven't noticed it mentioned here yet but I strongly recommend getting a sous vide if you don't have one yet. Allows you to cook meats at lower temperature longer which makes even some "tougher" cuts practically melt in your mouth and still "medium rare" or whatever you prefer - and juicy because the juices stay in the bag! Plus you can cook veggies, soups, really a LOT of things in there. Meats and other produce don't dry out cooking this way either so if you're into more "gamey" meat this helps keep it tender and juicy as well.

We freeze soups in single portion pouches** or sometimes other dinners in a family size and just use the sous vide to heat it up with we're completing other errands/chores around the house. Then just cut the pouch and pour!

** if you don't own one, get a food saver or some other vacuum food sealer. It's helped us a LOT when we bulk cook. Ex. I make a bomb salmon soup but if I make a double batch we can't finish it in time before it starts to go bad so we just vacuum seal 1/2 to 1/3 to have later on a cold day.

Also Tupperware. Holy hell a good Tupperware set saves so much plastic and waste (which technically a food saver creates but for the money saved may be worth it). Just toss into the dishwasher post use and you're ready to go! I tend to pack up leftovers from dinner into these "bento box" style tupperwares the same night to eliminate excuses to not have leftovers for lunch at work. Plus it saves me time in the morning to prep for food the same day.

 

[warriordocjensen]

@clh72481 We have 9 (almost 10 kids) our grocery bill is high but not for how many people we have here a quick rundown of my tips:
-I ditched the chest freezer and got the upright one because in our house, things go to die at the bottom. We have a second fridge so we can do only one Costco trip a month. (You wouldn’t believe how much yogurt and milk we go through)
-I bake all after school treats, my husband and I don’t like the cheap bread the kids eat so I bake the fancier stuff for us.
- we do online grocery shopping for the stuff that doesn’t come from Costco, we aren’t tempted by extra stuff walking down the isles. If we need something unexpectedly, I run into the store just before I have to get the kids from school so I don’t have time to get distracted by snacks, just in and out.
- we very rarely get take out but when we do it’s usually pizza and we wait for the special half price deals so it’s not expensive.
-we start saving for Christmas a few months before and we stick to the budget closely. The kids get good Christmas and birthday presents but we don’t buy them much in between other than clothes or necessities. If they want something extra they save up chore points to trade in for money or cut grass/shovel driveways.
-we have an excessive number of pets, I buy food from the farm supply store because it’s sooooo much cheaper.
-I buy juice or pop on special occasions but otherwise if they want it, they buy it themselves (the big kids do, the younger kids don’t actually like it)

I probably have a million more things but these are the bigger ones.

 

[samuelg29]

@clh72481 Last year I got a loadable MasterCard from Stack. It's really easy to load money on it. I put $10 a week on the card and when Christmas shopping time comes I'll have over $400 ready spend in store or online.

We typically spend more than that at Christmas, (entertaining, gifts, cards, social events) maybe even double that, but to have a big chunk of money set aside really takes the edge off.

Its my first year doing it, but I know I'll do it again for next year. Maybe up my weekly deposit.

 

[gameover1010101]

@clh72481 I think most if not all of this has been said already, but

1. Definitely invest in a chest freezer and, if you can, buy your meat in bulk. Picking up 1/2 cow or pig is a great money saver for meat if you have the storage space for it
2. Do as few shopping trips as possible - once every two weeks or once a month is ideal. We try to keep it to one massive trip, and only pick up milk/eggs/bananas in between
3. Stock up on pantry staples if you haven't already. Flour, beans, rice, lentils, spices.
4. Think of it as a game to work with what you have. I usually roll my eyes at "gamification" but damn if it doesn't work sometimes. Make it a goal to work through what you have, i.e. if you want to do burgers but don't have any ground beef...guess you aren't doing burgers, pick something else that you have all the ingredients for! If you run out of bread then try making your own, etc.
5. Minimize the amount of times/different things you have to cook each week. How is your family about leftovers? We are all content to have the same thing for dinner 3-4 days in a row, so cooking a bug batch of something that keeps decreases the amount of work during the week
6. Have a few handy fast meals to cut down on the "what should we eat? Idk, let's just order something" trap. For us that's a box of pasta, pesto sauce, and ground sausage. And since a whole box of pasta will last us 2-3 days, it's stretches
7. REALISTIC planning. It's okay to buy extras and treats because it'll help stop impulse buying later if you have them in bulk. Ice cream is not a necessity, but it makes my us happy to have it as a treat, and then we don't end up making unnessecary stops at DQ or whatever. We also generally get takeout on Fridays, and usually end up with enough leftovers for at least one if not two meals on the weekend

 

[gmbeischer]

@clh72481 I’m feeding 7. Here are my tips.

1. Buy bulk. If something is on sale and it’s something you eat regularly, go crazy, and buy bulk weekly. It takes awhile to build up a good pantry but it will save you a lot of money.
2. Learn how to cook inexpensive meat and have easy and yummy recipes printed off and in a binder. Usually the secret to quick and easy is a good homemade spice mix. Rub meat with olive oil, rub with spice mix, pop in the oven and you’re done.
3. Learn how to cook meatless meals. Lentils and beans are healthy, yummy and inexpensive.

 

[llk68]

@clh72481 Chest freezer is a must. I buy in bulk because nearly everything is cheaper that way. I use what I need then and freeze the rest. It's so convenient cause I don't have to go to grocery store as often. Buy extra of things on sale and freeze. You'd be surprised what you can freeze and just unthaw as needed. I.e. tortillas, cheese, meats, and I always buy frozen veggies. Frozen veggies are cheaper than canned and taste better. Take out what you need for that meal, put bag back in freezer. I buy ground beef in 10lb rolls, then separate it out (say 1 or 2 lbs) and put each portion into a freezer bag. If you need ground beef that night, just thaw a bag that day. I do the same with chicken breast, thighs, etc. I only have to grocery shop maybe twice a month by doing these. I do everything homemade and my grocery bill is around 300-400 a month for my family of 5. We dont eat out much so maybe 100 a month on take out

 

[danielwright2311]

@clh72481 Well, personally, we don't go big for Christmas. A nice meal, some small things, and 1 want that is reasonable priced. Some fun treats like a gingerbread house.

It sounds like y'all may benefit from doing a No Spend Month. I just did one in September and it was great! I was the only one participating and didn't ask my husband to partake, but I did say no to ordering food and made yummy stuff at home. Also, in defense, groceries have risen in cost. There is nothing wrong with having comforts.

Tips: buy in bulk! Seriously, a club membership is worth it. Even with a smaller house, you can get creative with places to store things. If there really isn't space, you may need to declutter and par down.

We try to have separate categories for the different items. Groceries is primarily that, food and drinks from the store. Then we have a diapers and wipes budget, a household supplies, and a completely separate eating out budget. We even have a small snacks and drinks budget, but that hasn't been necessary since hubby works from home. Honestly, some household things do get tossed into the groceries category. I did the separation because we don't buy every single thing every month due to buying in bulk, so the amounts vary. If it's a special occasion that we are celebrating, we create a new category just for that. When we had a pet, there was a budget just for him.

I have been meal planning and it's been great, but I think this has only truly saved us money and stretched food because I do buy in bulk. I don't have to go out and buy flour every time I want to make pizza or bake. I have really been liking Whisk. Free and I can share a grocery list.

Make some new recipes! Try some favourite meals. Even buying freezer ready microwave stuff at the store can cut costs. Again, Costco is great!

You have some great ideas already. Give yourselves a breather as this will take time to make adjustments. Baby steps, but stick to it. Allow room for some treats and comforts.

 

[bible2]

@clh72481 Garden. Eat out of it, freeze it, can it, whatever.

Aldi is good but I save more going to Costco, when I stick to a list and am organized anyway.

It isn't an option for everyone, but if your family eats meat and has the gear for it, we hunt. Two or three deer fill our freezer for the whole year so we aren't ever really buying beef. All of our food scraps go to our chickens so there is no food waste and our feed bill is really low, and we have fresh chicken and eggs. Then the chicken manure goes into the compost pile where it eventually goes back into the garden.

Meal plan and plan around leftovers. Not just leftover prepared meals, leftover ingredients from other meals.

Also, you sort of have to build into the budget for spur of the moment purchases or junk food. We dont eat out much but it's fantastic to be able to blow thirty dollars at McDonalds because our errands went way over and two kids are famished and screaming. It isn't a popular opinion but it works really well for us.

 

[bible2]

Oh! Also! We shop every two weeks. That's it. We dont do extra shopping trips because they are never just limited to the item or two we need. The more times we go to the store, the more we spend. We use a gallon of milk a day, so I have three fridges-one prep fridge in the kitchen, a drink and a overflow fridge in the basement, and a milk (and ice cream) fridge in the shop. You can usually buy milk that will last for up to two weeks, much longer if you do almond or lactose free milk.

One of the really key first steps is figuring out realistically how much of the basics you eat in any given period of time.

And go to the store by yourself. Dont take your spouse or your kids if at all possible.

 

[uniquescreenname]

@clh72481 Surprisingly I started spending way less on groceries when I got them delivered. I’m talking $50-100 less a week with the delivery fee and tip included. Turns out if all that crap isn’t in front of me I don’t buy it. So I meal plan every meal but Saturday and order once a week. Took a while to get in the habit of meal planning but it saves a TON of time too.

 

[jeffstarrunner1]

@uniquescreenname Yes I agree with grocery delivery! If I don’t see it, I don’t buy it. It’s also just so much more convenient. Our grocery store has an app and you can shop your recently purchased items, so it’s very quick to just scroll through and add the items we normally get. It’s also nice because my husband and I both have the app so we don’t need to keep a grocery list anymore. If we think of something we need, we just pull up the app and add the item to the cart. Then once a week (or less, depending on our needs) finish up the shopping and check out.

 

[berta]

@uniquescreenname yes, this is true. After you get over the fee shock this is so true. Also you can pull up your old orders so you don't even have to look for stuff re time saving.

 

[annemoon]

@clh72481 We never eat out or convenience foods. The kids and I rarely eat meat. Our groceries for a family of 6 is about $125 a week for everything everyone eats and drinks.

 

[berta]

@annemoon Wow, love to see your menu/receipt!

 

[clavdivs]

@clh72481 Speaking for a family of 9 on one income:

1) Realistic Meal planning should be at the top of your list. We used to do the exact thing you're talking about, going grocery shopping on the weekends but then still going back to the store mid-week. Snacking is OKAY but it needs to be included as a meal and planned as such, I do afternoon/after school snacks and they are part of the meal plan.

1.5) With 7 kids we buy a lot in bulk but there are some things you don't want to buy at Costco, so we do once a month Costco trips to buy bulk items and 'maintenance' shop the rest of the month so I don't have to go to multiple stores in one trip. Once again, the key to this is planning REALISTICALLY what you are going to be eating. It's better to buy snacks as part of a grocery run than run to the kwik-e-mart and buy chips AND soda and candy.

2) We still eat out but, with seven kids and a pandemic it has to be planned out, most of the restaurants around us will only seat tables of 6 at most. It is treated as the treat that it is; a family of 4 is a little more nimble so you don't have to get in that same mindset but you should, especially if you plan on having more.

4) Buy a soda stream, the kids can make their own drinks a lot cheaper and healthier. I've given up soda completely just mixing in a few tablespoons of juice.

5) Keep and go over all your receipts for food. The grocery receipts, fast food, gas station trips, all of it, and keep a running tally of what your expenses are at the end of the month REGULARLY. My wife was shocked at how much she was spending on coffee yearly, it was cheaper to buy an expensive coffee maker and make it at home than to go to Starbucks everyday.

Good luck!